The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 10.5% of medicines worldwide in low- and middle-income countries are substandard or are falsified (i.e. fake) medicines made by criminals. This threatens global health since the medicines and vaccines fail to prevent and treat the diseases for which they were intended, and they risk additional adverse health consequences if the ingredients used by criminals in the falsified products are harmful.
The development of vaccines against Covid-19 was a remarkable achievement marked by the supply and distribution of billions of doses worldwide. Although the vast majority of Covid-19 vaccines were genuine and efficacious, falsified vaccines, including the COVISHIELD™ vaccine, were found in Uganda, India and Myanmar. In these cases, the label on the vaccine vial had also been falsified.
The Vaccine Identify Evaluation (VIE) Collaboration are developing novel tests for detecting falsified vaccines in supply chains. Alongside the Nuffield Department of Medicine, the Department of Biochemistry, the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery and the Department of Chemistry, the international consortium who worked on this study also include a range of representatives. These included: STFC (part of UK Research and Innovation), WHO, the Serum Institute of India, bioMérieux, the University of East London and Agilent Technologies.
Read the full story on the Nuffield Department of Medicine (NDM) website.